Ang 1413

SHALOK, THIRD MEHL: ONE UNIVERSAL CREATOR GOD. BY THE GRACE OF THE TRUE GURU: Do not call the wandering beggars holy men, if their minds are filled with doubt. Whoever gives to them, O Nanak, earns the same sort of merit. ||1|| One who begs for the supreme status of the Fearless and Immaculate Lord — how rare are those who have the opportunity, O Nanak, to give food to such a person. ||2|| If I were a religious scholar, an astrologer, or one who could recite the four Vedas, I could be famous throughout the nine regions of the earth, for my wisdom and thoughtful contemplation. ||3|| If a Brahmin kills a cow or a female infant, and accepts the offerings of an evil person, he is cursed with the leprosy of curses and criticism; he is forever and ever filled with egotistical pride. One who forgets the Naam, O Nanak, is covered by countless sins. Let all wisdom be burnt away, except for the essence of spiritual wisdom. ||4|| No one can erase that primal destiny written upon one’s forehead. O Nanak, whatever is written there, comes to pass. He alone understands, who is blessed by God’s Grace. ||5|| Those who forget the Naam, the Name of the Lord, and become attached to greed and fraud, are engrossed in the entanglements of Maya the enticer, with the fire of desire within them. Those who, like the pumpkin vine, are too stubborn climb the trellis, are cheated by Maya the cheater. The self-willed manmukhs are bound and gagged and led away; the dogs do not join the herd of cows. The Lord Himself misleads the misguided ones, and He Himself unites them in His Union. O Nanak, the Gurmukhs are saved; they walk in harmony with the Will of the True Guru. ||6|| I praise the Praiseworthy Lord, and sing the Praises of the True Lord. O Nanak, the One Lord alone is True; stay away from all other doors. ||7|| O Nanak, wherever I go, I find the True Lord. Wherever I look, I see the One Lord. He reveals Himself to the Gurmukh. ||8|| The Word of the Shabad is the Dispeller of sorrow, if one enshrines it in the mind. By Guru’s Grace, it dwells in the mind; by God’s Mercy, it is obtained. ||9|| O Nanak, acting in egotism, countless thousands have wasted away to death. Those who meet with the True Guru are saved, through the Shabad, the True Word of the Inscrutable Lord. ||10||

Those who serve the True Guru single-mindedly — I fall at the feet of those humble beings. Through the Word of the Guru’s Shabad, the Lord abides in the mind, and the hunger for Maya departs. Immaculate and pure are those humble beings, who, as Gurmukh, merge in the Naam. O Nanak, other empires are false; they alone are true emperors, who are imbued with the Naam. ||11|| The devoted wife in her husband’s home has a great longing to perform loving devotional service to him; she prepares and offers to him all sorts of sweet delicacies and dishes of all flavors. In the same way, the devotees praise the Word of the Guru’s Bani, and focus their consciousness on the Lord’s Name. They place mind, body and wealth in offering before the Guru, and sell their heads to Him. In the Fear of God, His devotees yearn for His devotional worship; God fulfills their desires, and merges them with Himself. My Lord God is Self-existent and Independent. What does He need to eat to be satisfied? Whoever walks in harmony with the Will of the True Guru, and sings the Glorious Praises of the Lord, is pleasing to Him. Blessed, blessed are they, in this Dark Age of Kali Yuga, O Nanak, who walk in harmony with the Will of the True Guru. ||12|| Those who do not serve the True Guru, and do not keep the Shabad enshrined in their hearts — cursed are their lives. Why did they even come into the world? If one follows the Guru’s Teachings, and keeps the Fear of God in his mind, then he is lovingly attuned to the sublime essence of the Lord. By his primal destiny, he obtains the Name; O Nanak, he is carried across. ||13|| The world wanders lost in emotional attachment to Maya; it does not realize that its own home is being plundered. The self- willed manmukh is blind in the world; his mind is lured away by sexual desire and anger. With the sword of spiritual wisdom, kill the five demons. Remain awake and aware to the Guru’s Teachings. The Jewel of the Naam is revealed, and the mind and body are purified. Those who lack the Naam wander around lost, with their noses cut off; without the Name, they sit and cry. O Nanak, no one can erase that which is pre-ordained by the Creator Lord. ||14|| The Gurmukhs earn the wealth of the Lord, contemplating the Word of the Guru’s Shabad. They receive the wealth of the Naam; their treasures are overflowing. Through the Word of the Guru’s Bani, they utter the Glorious Praises of the Lord, whose end and limitations cannot be found. O Nanak, the Creator is the Doer of all; the Creator Lord beholds all. ||15|| Within the Gurmukh is intuitive peace and poise; his mind ascends to the Tenth Plane of the Akaashic Ethers. No one is sleepy or hungry there; they dwell in the peace of the Ambrosial Name of the Lord. O Nanak, pain and pleasure do not afflict anyone, where the Light of the Lord, the Supreme Soul, illuminates. ||16||